Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein of the Likud responded to critics who attacked the decision to approve the expansion of the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of Jerusalem during the visit of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in Israel.

Edelstein said that what bothers those critics is Jewish construction in the capital and not the timing of the decision. However, he also admitted that there was room to correct the diplomatic mistake made in the affair.

Last year a quarry for rocks that archeologists believe were used to build the Second Temple was found in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood.